So Much Snow!

I moved to Michigan about 4 1/2 years ago. I arrived at the beginning of summer, where I discovered how nice it is to live somewhere where it doesn't get scorching hot and you can actually enjoy the season outside. The first three winters here were relatively mild-- not so cold that you couldn't enjoy the great outdoors. And then came the winter of 2013-14 with its polar vortexes, frigid temperatures, and SNOW. We have never seen this much snow in a Michigan winter before, which makes plowing the driveway with the Little Mean Green Machine quite challenging for a novice tractor driver.

In all honestly, if I had experienced a winter like this one when I first moved to Michigan, I probably would have packed my bags and headed South. But, the last three "mild" winters helped prepare me for the current weather.

Last Friday we had a winter storm blow through with high winds and a fair bit of snow. I awoke Saturday morning to find the farm taken over by snow drifts...

There are actual stairs leading up to the driveway under the snow... It took me awhile to dig myself out so it was safer to walk back and forth to the barn.

The snow drifted halfway up the sides of the barn.

Fortunately the snow was really light so the tractor had no problem backing out. (And yes, that's a picture of the tractor in the foreground! Maybe one day I'll post a picture of the whole thing...)

Charlie didn't have any problems getting around in the snow. Especially if moving meant getting more hay to eat.

Surviving the Polar Vortex

I'm happy to report that everyone survived Day 1 of the 2014 Polar Vortex, and our prospects look good for Day 2. The horses eagerly came out of their shed to get their morning ration of hay, Sassy meowed incessantly until she was fed, and the chickens hopped off their roost and started their day with water and Flock Raiser, and had laid two eggs before I left for work this morning.

This photo was taken last week. It's too cold for humans or dogs to be roaming around the open fields with a wind chill below -20 degrees.

Honestly, getting the outdoor chores finished has not been pleasant. The cold cuts through five layers of clothing, two layers of socks and insulated boots, and chills you to the core. Wearing my trusty gator from Duluth Trading has really helped keep my face out of the weather, but for the first time in my life I felt my eyelids get cold (or maybe it was my eyeballs, too). I had NO IDEA that your eyelids could feel cold.

Outdoor excursions have been limited to no more than 30 minutes. Fortunately most of the chores require moving around, which keeps the warm blood pumping.

Jenna at Cold Antler Farm has a really great blog post today about staying warm, and how our society is used to on-demand, instant comfort. She offers a nice perspective on being "cold" and working for warmth at http://coldantlerfarm.blogspot.com/2014/01/warm.html.

Snowy Ponies

Charlie and Jubi show off their winter blankets.

We are in the midst of a winter storm, and the coldest weather I have ever experienced with wind chills below -20 degrees!. The horses will stay outside (they do have access to a shelter to get out of the wind), and I'm sure Jubilee has weathered storms like this before. The chickens are snug in the coop and Sassy is huddled in her box in the barn. And Kobe is enjoying the good life indoors!

Beautiful Fall Day

Dead Tree

Last week we had a strong storm blow in, and this dead tree was leaning over the road. This was very dangerous as we live on a major two-lane highway. As I surveyed the situation, I figured the tractor could probably pull it down, but given my lack of experience with felling trees with tractors, I called in a neighbor who supervised the tree pulling.

Out in the Rain

A few weeks ago the horses were in their stalls eating their dinner of oats when it began to rain.

Charlie wasn't fazed by the rain, but Jubilee wouldn't tolerate the ping of the drops on the metal roof of the barn. She hightailed it out of her stall to the barnyard.

Farm rule: if you leave the barn during mealtime, you don't get to come back in.

 Charlie was content to wait out the storm in his stall. (Mostly he stayed inside because a certain human didn't want to go outside and take off his halter in the rain and mud puddles.)

The chickens wisely stayed inside with their dry coop.

Rainbow

Photos from the past week

 

Rain!

After at least three weeks without rain, we finally got some precipitation last night and this morning. I happily rummaged through my closet to find my rain coat at 6 a.m. this morning to feed the cats and water the horses. It was really peaceful waiting for the water trough to fill up and listen to rain, feel the pitter-patter of the rain drops on my shoulders, and watch the lightning flash across the sky. (Don't worry, I wasn't standing out in the middle of the field during a lightning storm-I kept close to the barn. The horses, on the other hand, are much braver than I).

The rain could not have come any sooner as things here were dry dry dry with the 90+ degree days we've been having. The grass in the yard was dying, the coneflowers in front of the house were wilting, the east field where the horses were first kept became a dust bowl, I lost two petunia plants, and my violets finally conked out on Monday. The corn in the neighboring fields isn't nearly as tall as it should be, and some of the stalks were turning brown. The rain will be good for the hay fields, and after today's showers I'll get to take a break from watering the vegetables.